1. Field of the Invention.
This invention relates generally to traps and, more specifically, to an animal trap which humanely and swiftly kills an animal that comes into the jaws of the trap.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The art of trapping small game animals for fur is an old art which few people follow today. However, there are nevertheless, two distinct groups of trappers: the first group is the professional who catches small animals for their fur; the second group is the average citizen who uses a trap to rid himself of a pest. One of the basic traps used for the trapping of animals is the leg hold trap in which the animal's leg is caught in the trap. This trap has certain disadvantages and certain advantages. Among the disadvantages of the leg hold trap is that it does not kill the animal, but only holds the animal until the trapper kills the animal. Consequently, the animal in a leg hold trap may struggle and be attacked by other predators who may damage or ruin the pelt as well as allowing the animal to suffer until he dies, or is killed. Nevertheless, these leg hold traps have certain applications because there are certain animals that cannot be trapped by any other trap. An example is the fox which is very wary and is almost impossible to catch with any trap except a leg hold trap.
Other types of prior art traps which have some type of spring action and a bar for striking the animal are shown in the Dahlgren U.S. Pat. No. 3,534,493 in which a bar on the top of the trap is forced downward toward a flat jaw located on the bottom of the trap. Another type of prior art trap is shown on the Purlee U.S. Pat. No. 2,542,942 in which a serrated jaw is brought down on the animal. Still another type of trap is shown on the Conibear U.S. Pat. No. 3,010,245 which has a pair of spring-loaded jaws that can choke an animal to death. Still other types of traps utilize members that have jaws to clamp around the animal or prongs to impale the animal. However, these prior art traps are not entirely effective in swiftly and humanely killing an animal.
The present invention, in contrast, provides a trap which is light weight, can be carried and stored easily and contains a movable jaw which is powered upward upon release of the trigger to quickly and almost instantaneously kill the animal by a sharp blow on the neck. The trigger mechanism is such that it is virtually impossible for the animal to get more than his head into the trap before the jaw hits him.